Greeson: Uggla's big night sur-really painful for Braves fans

Washington Nationals second baseman Dan Uggla fields a ball hit by Miami Marlins' Dee Gordon in this May 5, 2015, file photo.
Washington Nationals second baseman Dan Uggla fields a ball hit by Miami Marlins' Dee Gordon in this May 5, 2015, file photo.

For whatever reason, the Atlanta Braves and Dan Uggla never meshed.

Like with the Clintons and the truth, even grand intentions could not make the connection work.

Uggla, you will certainly remember and may want to forget, is Atlanta's highest paid player. His biggest moment at Turner Field -- despite the $51 million contract the Braves will be done with at the end of this year -- was his five-RBI night last week. That he was wearing a Washington Nationals uniform was lost on no one, including Uggla.

"It's hard to describe, hard to explain," Uggla said on "Press Row" on ESPN 105.1 FM this week. "You try not to make anything too big out of any situation that has gone on, but ... going back (to Turner Field) and playing in that stadium for the first time since last year, it was pretty significant. I can try to downplay it all I want, but it was a really cool moment for me, and one of the most special moments I've had in the big leagues.

"It's pretty surreal."

Surreal is the best word for it.

Surreal for Braves fans who watched last week and again Friday night as the highest paid player in the organization wore a Nationals uniform.

Surreal for the former executives who built an expensive, offensive-minded franchise around Uggla and the Uptons and some other names who no longer call the A-T-L home.

Surreal for Uggla, and sur-really ugly for Braves fans.

Uggla capped a historic comeback for the Nationals with a three-run homer in the ninth inning last month as Washington rallied from an eight-run deficit to beat the Braves.

Washington is pegged as the favorite in the National League East; the Braves are completely rebuilding. A big part of that juxtaposed projection for the 2015 season is Uggla, whom the Braves released last year despite owing him almost $20 million.

For Uggla in Atlanta, every day was a struggle -- well, payday was still pretty nice -- and the backlash left hurt feelings on each end.

photo Jay Greeson

"It was just a bad situation over there. I was struggling," Uggla said on "Press Row." "I got benched and left off the playoff roster. It was what it was. You try not to dwell on it and you want to come back and prove to everybody that that was then and this is now.

"Like I said, the Braves organization, I can't thank them enough for the opportunity to play at home for the team I grew up rooting for. I got booed a lot when I was there this past weekend, but I've gotten so much support from so many people in Atlanta."

It's tough to imagine a dream scenario turning into a bigger nightmare than what Uggla became in Atlanta. He came from Florida after five years of being a .263 hitter and averaging 30-plus homers a year. His three plus years with the Braves yielded a bunch of cash and a .204 average and 79 homers.

There was a multitude of theories before Uggla learned last offseason that a concussion created vision problems. Whether he rebounds to his former production when he made three All-Star teams remains to be seen.

Heck, whether he keeps his job with the Nationals through the summer is up in the air. But Uggla is happy to know the genesis of his epic struggles at the plate.

"With what happened to me getting hit in the head and not being able to see the ball the way I was before, it was relieving to me to know that you just don't suck now -- there was a reason for it," said Uggla, who entered Friday's game against the Braves hitting .192. "It sucks that it took me this long to get back to feeling the way I was before.

"Everything that has happened to me in my life has helped make me mentally strong, and this is just another part of this."

It's the ebb and flow of professional sports.

More times than not, players are paid as much for what they did as for what they will do. For Uggla, that contract and the lasting disappointment of what happened in Atlanta always will be a part of him.

"Somebody in the stands said, 'Our highest paid player finally came through,'" Uggla said about the best heckle he heard during his return to Turner Field.

As for the stories and the chatter from the talking heads during his downward turn: "I ignore all of it, good or bad. You take the good or the bad and roll with it. That's kind of the nature of the beast with the media."

So whether he has another All-Star trip or even another season ahead of him, Uggla seems supremely well-adjusted for someone who rode through a professional debacle.

He knows he did the best he could. He knows he was a great teammate -- something that every Braves player or official has attested to -- and he knows that it didn't work out.

It's not that simple, of course, and Uggla certainly would love for a do-over.

Still, he always will have that magical moment less than two weeks ago.

"Can't say one," Uggla said about his favorite big-league moment. "All three All-Star games were pretty cool. The Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium. But the home run last week was tough to beat, if you look at the significance and how recent everything is and all the work I put in in the offseason."

"Can't put anything ahead of that game the other night."

Sadly for a lot of Braves fans, that will be the lasting highlight of Uggla at Turner Field -- and he was wearing a visitor's uniform.

Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6343. Follow him on Twitter at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com.

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